


The Accords

by ElenaCee



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:26:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8816755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElenaCee/pseuds/ElenaCee
Summary: Secretary Thaddeus Ross tries to make Doctor Strange sign the Sokovia Accords.





	

 

Thaddeus Ross was pacing impatiently.

This was not unusual. Impatience was his default condition these days. Civilian life might be less hard on his cardiovascular system than his military past had been, but it didn’t mean that time was any less of a luxury than it had been during combat.

The reason for his impatience, this time, was the fact that his 11 o'clock appointment was about to be late. Thirty seconds or so missing of the full hour, and Security had yet to report a car, taxi, lear jet, helicopter, or flying metahuman approaching the complex.

If there was one thing Ross hated, it was being disrespected, and making other people wait, as far as he was concerned, ranked near the top of his scale of disrespectful acts. This did not bode well for -

His internal fuming was interrupted by a sound from behind him that he had never heard before.

Whirling away from the windows, he found himself face to face with his appointment. The tall, slim man, dressed in colorful robes, was looking at Ross expectantly, a circle of orange sparks just collapsing and dissolving behind him. He had come through some sort of portal, then.

Ross’ hand had automatically gone for the weapon at his hip that he hadn’t carried in a while, but he forced himself to relax. He had asked for this appointment. He had wanted to meet this man, this neurosurgeon-turned-sorcerer who, according to all reports, might just be the most powerful man on the planet.

“Doctor Strange,” he greeted him with, he felt, adequate politeness.

Strange nodded. “Mr. Secretary.”

Ross noted the lack of small talk and decided that it relieved him from its necessity as well. Raising one hand to his in-ear communicator, he said, “Trevor.”

“Still no sign of him, Sir,” the voice in his ear said, anticipating him.

“Yeah, you can stand down. He’s here.”

There was a deep sigh at the other end of the line communicating more clearly than words could have done how fed up Trevor was with this whole metahumans business and their unwillingness to behave like normal people. “Yes, Sir.” The line went dead.

Ross sympathized, but he forced his face to assume a smile. “Thank you for coming, Doctor. This will not take long. I hope.”

Strange nodded. “We’ll see.” He nodded at the thick bound document lying on the conference table next to him. “I’m assuming that this pamphlet over there is the reason why I’m here. It sure looks like it might take a while to even read.”

Ross picked up the Sokovia Accords, weighing the thing in his hands. “Yeah, well, I would have had a copy forwarded to you had anyone known where to send it. The last place of residence we have on record for you was rented out to someone else over a year ago, so…”

Strange smiled. “Fortunately, I have ways of getting at whatever information I need to be aware of. I have already read it, of course. The Accords are about accountability, and about the UN telling me what to do and when to do it.”

“That’s a very simplistic -” Ross began, still holding the document in his hands.

“Mr. Secretary, before you became a politician, you were a military man. I suggest you return to that mindset for the duration of this meeting. It will save us both time.”

Ross took a breath. “Very well. The CliffsNotes version, then. 117 nations have agreed that we cannot allow you to operate without some sort of oversight. And as you yourself have proven during the last two minutes, you have ways of ignoring security measures as well as privacy surrounding secret documents, so I’d say that such oversight is badly needed in your case, Doctor.”

Strange looked at him, a small smile on his lips. “Give me two more minutes, then, to convince you that I must be exempt from your otherwise very commendable initiative.”

That sounded ominous, but Ross had never been one to back down from a challenge. “And if I’m not convinced, you’ll sign?”

“Yes, I’ll sign,” Strange said, sounding positively amused now.

Definitely ominous. Ross drew back his shoulders. “Alright, go.”

“I’ll ask you two questions, Mr. Secretary. Please answer them both to the best of your ability.”

Ross nodded, trying to brace himself.

“One: Are there any living beings bigger than insects here in this room with us at this instant?”

Whatever he had expected, it was definitely not that.

Ross looked at the empty room. Save for the conference table and eight chairs surrounding it, it was empty. Definitely empty. The mirroring surface of the window wall made it impossible for anyone to hide under the table without being spotted. In fact, he rather doubted that even insects could evade the rigorous cleaning this building underwent regularly. Any cloaking would be detected by their security measures, most of which were Stark Tech, and you didn’t get any more advanced than that. “No,” he said, with conviction. “Nobody except us.”

“Wrong,” Strange said. “Allow me to demonstrate.” With that, he raised his right hand in a complicated motion, fingers positioned in an equally complicated configuration, and pointed at Ross.

Before Ross had a chance to process his own thoughts - was he being magicked? he hadn’t felt anything - he became aware of a large, purplish shape next to him. Automatically stepping back, he turned towards it, and beheld a gigantic being with no discernible arms and legs but dozens of branch-like appendages growing out of a roughly cylindrical trunk. The branches moved like tentacles; the entire creature seemed more gelatinous than solid with ripples travelling across its surface as it moved. Ross thought he could see pulsating organs inside the semi-transparent thing.

As he stared, the tentacles wandered onto the side facing him and slowly extended themselves towards him. He retreated another two steps. Wrenching his eyes away, he found Strange.

The sorcerer stood calmly, surrounded by two more of these beings, looking at Ross with the same amusement he had shown before.

It was only then that Ross noted other smaller creatures floating, creeping, crawling, even rolling through the room, ignoring the walls,  the ceiling, the furniture, and fortunately, the two of them.

“And two,” Strange continued, with a calm that Ross envied him for. “Is there a threat to us in this room, and if so, what is the best response?”

Ross stared at the purple things. They might be harmless. At least they were making no discernibly threatening moves. Strange himself was not acting like he anticipated danger. But on the other hand, this was clearly a test, so going for the obvious answer was out.

Make a threat assessment, he told himself, like you’ve done every other day for half your damned life.

But as soon as he thought that, he realized that it was impossible. This was outside the scope of his experience. He didn’t even know what kind of offensive measures these things possessed, how they might fight. Would they engulf him? Spew acid on him? Strangle him with their tentacle arms? He had no idea. He couldn’t determine the best response if he couldn’t even identify the threat itself.

“I don’t know,” he finally said, pushing each word out individually against great resistance.

Now, Strange smiled. “Correct.” He made another motion, and the things disappeared, leaving the room blessedly empty except for the two of them.

Ross forced himself to relax. He’d have to remember to take his meds today, that was for sure. “What happened? Was all that real?”

“As real as you and me,” Strange said. “They are still there, you are merely unable to perceive them. I briefly opened your third eye, which is how you were able to transcend the barrier of your normal human senses.”

Ross looked around, but there was indeed nothing. “Can they harm us?”

“They are entirely harmless.”

Ross breathed deeply. “Thought so.”

“The point is, you weren’t sure. Mr. Secretary, what you just saw is the sort of arena I operate in. As I have demonstrated and you confirmed, neither you, nor any other person that is limited to their normal senses, can be in any position to tell me what to do or when to do it.”

Ross grimaced. He was forced to admit that Strange was right, unless they could get, say, a sorcerer with the necessary skills on the Council of the United Nations, but that would probably mean opening a whole other can of worms.

Strange raised his hand and pointed, but before Ross had a chance to do anything, he felt the document that he had held clutched in his hands the whole time become weightless and float out of his grasp to land on the table. “Then we are in agreement,” the sorcerer said. “I’m not signing that, and you’ll go to sleep tonight grateful for the fact that you don’t need to decide anything on my behalf, while I’ll be keeping this world and this universe safe, without your input, your consent, or even your knowledge.” He raised his eyebrows, clearly expecting a response.

“I agree,” Ross said, because what else was there for him to do? “I’ll report as much to the UN.”

“Excellent. Oh, just to be clear, I don’t contest the spirit of the Accords where physical threats are concerned. Just leave everything else to those qualified to deal with it. And if you ever need my help with a mystical problem, my address is 177A Bleecker Street, New York City.” He turned away, raising his hands once more.

Ross watched the portal spring into existence. Protocol dictated that he stop this, that he force Strange to use the fucking door like everyone else, that he at least make the man wear a fucking visitor’s badge and get cleared by security when he left.

He did none of these things and simply watched the sorcerer disappear.


End file.
